The Minority in Parliament is calling for the prosecution of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of COCOBOD, Mr Joseph Boahene Aidoo, for causing financial loss to the State.

According to the National Democratic Congress Members of Parliament, a directive to all contractors to halt ongoing works on all COCOBOD-funded projects had resulted in deterioration of such projects.

Mr Aidoo, in July 2017, announced the decision to halt WORK when the Board and Management of the company paid a courtesy call on the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin.

He said the decision was to allow the company conduct a full audit into all road contracts to ensure that they did not strain its finances.

He noted that the previous government had entered into various road contracts of values far above the company’s financial capacity.

In an interview with Starr News, he defended the directive, arguing it was to ensure value for money.

However, the Minority spokesperson on Roads and Highways, Mr Agboza Kwame Governs, argues that the claims of the CEO that the project costs had been inflated were untenable.

“The current Chief Executive of COCOBOD must be cited for wilfully causing financial loss to the state…contractors are working, they haven’t stopped working and you go and tell them to stop work and as a result the roads have deteriorated beyond what they were, meaning that when the contractors return they will have to go and carry out further repair works which will cost us money; it is an act that is avoidable.

“So the New Patriotic Party have no excuse to say that they will not build roads or they do not have money…they allocated 1.5 billion Ghana Cedis to the office of the President, it is all about priority,” Hon. Agboza told Starr FM’s Parliamentary correspondent, Ibrahim Alhassan.